In-situ Investigations on Gold Nanoparticles Stabilization Mechanisms in Biological Environments Containing HSA

Nanoparticles (NPs) developments advance innovative biomedical applications. However, complex interactions and the low colloidal stability of NPs in biological media restrict their widespread utilization. The influence of NPs properties on the colloidal stability for gold NPs with 5 and 40 nm in diameter with two surface modifications, methoxy-polyethylene glycol-sulfhydryl (PEG) and citrate, in NaCl and human serum albumin (HSA) protein solution, is investigated. This study is based on small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) methods allowing the in-situ monitoring of interactions in physiological conditions. The PEG coating provides high colloidal stability for NPs of both sizes. For 5 nm NPs in NaCl solution, a stable 3D self-assembled body-centered cubic (BCC) arrangement is detected with an interparticle distance of 20.7 +/- 0.1 nm. In protein solution, this distance increases to 21.9 +/- 0.1 nm by protein penetration inside the ordered structure. For citrate-capped NPs, a different mechanism is observed. The protein particles attach to the NPs surfaces, and an appropriate concentration of proteins results in a stable suspension. Cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (Cryo-TEM), UV-visible spectroscopy, and dynamic light scattering (DLS) support the SAXS results. The findings will pave the way to design and synthesize NPs with controlled behaviors in biomedical applications.

Etude par microscopie électronique de particules nanostructurées d'oxalate de cobalt précipitées en milieu aqueux

The understanding of material self-assembling and self-organization mechanisms, at mesoscale, is crucial for nanotechnologies development. Such structures, hierarchically organized in superlattices or colloïdal crystals, are observed in inorganic or organo-metallic precipitates. The classical characterization, using electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, of a synthesized powder is inadequate to describe the hierarchically organized polycrystalline structure of the final particles. Here, we have highlighted the successive steps that lead to the spontaneous formation of a cobalt oxalate dihydrate (COD) colloïdal crystals that precipitate in aqueous media. The characterization of the final particles, made by X-ray and electronic diffraction, has allowed us to determine the controversial crystalline phase of the precipitated COD. The β and γ COD phases has been discriminated by comparing experimental results with simulations of X-ray diffractogram and electron diffraction patterns for these both structures. The precipitated COD corresponds to the γ phase indicating that it comes from solid dehydration of cobalt oxalate tetrahydrate. The final powder characterization, performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), low voltage high resolution scanning electron microscopy (LVHRSEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), gives some diverging results about monocrystalline or polycrystalline nature of the precipitates. XRD and AFM analysis show a polycrystalline structure of particles whereas LVHRSEM, TEM and electron diffraction observations indicate a monocrystalline structure. This apparent contradiction has led us to elaborate a new characterization method allowing to follow the growth and the structural evolution of the precipitate as a function of time. The cryo- preparation techniques are well adapted as they allow freezing and direct observation of solid state suspension by electron microscopy. The freeze/drying method has been modified and used for both SEM and TEM, and has allowed us to study the morphological and structural evolution of the COD precipitate from nanoscale to mesoscale. In addition, TEM analysis of samples prepared by classical techniques has been performed to complement cryo-electron microscopy observations. The combination of these two methods show that COD precipitation is a complex multi-step process leading to the formation of a core/shell heterostructure. The anisotropic core is porous and partially crystalline. It is formed by agglomeration of isolated primary particles and agregated ones (15-20 nm sized secondary particles). The crystalline shell corresponds to the final particles faces and is made up by the layer by layer self-assembling and alignment of 5-7 nm sized crystalline primary particles. These nanoparticles are aligned and perfectly ordered in strings of nanograins in the layer structure. The self-assembling occurs in the last step of growth where we have a lower ionic strength and supersaturation inducing slower kinetics of growth and aggregation. Moreover, the crystalline order in the primary and secondary particles increase with the time of reaction consistent with a continuous process of primary particle nucleation and growth. Our results show that self-assembling occurs layer by layer with terraces, kinks and steps that are present on the faces. This reminds the layer by layer crystalline growth models but in this case, the buiding blocks are colloïdal instead of atomic or molecular. Based on these different results, we propose an original model describing the COD precipitate growth. In addition, we have studied the poly(methacrylic acid-sodium salt) effect on the COD precipitation. This additive (PMMA) appeared to be a very good growth inhibitor. The PMMA effect on the final particles morphology is dramatic. Its concentration variation in solution slows down the nanoparticles aggregation rates along a [101] preferential direction. The crystal habit can then be controlled and we have synthesized platelets, cubes and rods with tailored length. The use of cryogenic electron microscopy has been shown to be a powerful tool for the understanding of time dependent aspects of particle growth. The use of such techniques for the study of other systems, where the final precipitate appearance may hide particle substructures, will help to elucidate growth mechanisms and allow finer control of nanostructured materials for many applications. The complex self-assembling and self-organization processes could then be highlighted and studied on a nanometer to micrometer scale.

EPFL2004

Nucleation and Island Growth of Alkanethiolate Ligand Domains on Gold Nanoparticles

Francesco Stellacci, Yue Wang

The metal oxide cluster alpha-AIW(11)O(39)(9-) (1), readily imaged by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), is used as a diagnostic protecting anion to investigate the self-assembly of alkanethiolate monolayers on electrostatically stabilized gold nanoparticles in water. Monolayers of 1 on 13.8 +/- 0.9 nm diameter gold nanoparticles are displaced from the gold surface by mercaptoundecacarboxylate, HS(CH2)(10)CO2- (11-MU). During this process, no aggregation is observed by UV-vis spectroscopy, and the intermediate ligand-shell organizations of 1 in cryo-TEM images indicate the presence of growing hydrophobic domains, or "islands", of alkanethiolates. UV-vis spectroscopic "titrations", based on changes in the surface plasmon resonance upon exchange of 1 by thiol, reveal that the 330 +/- 30 molecules of 1 initially present on each gold nanoparticie are eventually replaced by 2800 +/- 30 molecules of 11-MU. UV-vis kinetic data for 11-MU-monolayer formation reveal a slow phase, followed by rapid self-assembly. The Johnson, Mehl, Avrami, and Kolmogorov model gives an Avrami parameter of 2.9, indicating continuous nucleation and two-dimensional island growth. During nucleation, incoming 11-MU ligands irreversibly displace 1 from the Au-NP surface via an associative mechanism, with k(nudeation) = (6.1 +/- 0.4) x 10(2) M-1 s(-1), and 19 +/- 8 nuclei, each comprised of ca. 8 alkanethiolates, appear on the gold-nanoparticle surface before rapid growth becomes kinetically dominant Island growth is also first-order in [11-MU], and its larger rate constant, k(grawth), (2.3 +/- 0.2) x 10(4) M-1 s(-1), is consistent with destabilization of molecules of 1 at the boundaries between the hydrophobic (alkanethiolate) and the electrostatically stabilized (inorganic) domains.

American Chemical Society2012

Protein-nanoparticle interactions: the effects of surface compositional and structural heterogeneity are scale dependent

Randy Patrick Carney, Francesco Stellacci

Nanoparticles (NPs) in the biological environment are exposed to a large variety and concentration of proteins. Proteins are known to adsorb in a 'corona' like structure on the surface of NPs. In this study, we focus on the effects of surface compositional and structural heterogeneity on protein adsorption by examining the interaction of self-assembled monolayer coated gold NPs (AuNPs) with two types of proteins: ubiquitin and fibrinogen. This work was designed to systematically investigate the role of surface heterogeneity in nanoparticle-protein interaction. We have chosen the particles as well as the proteins to provide different types (in distribution and length-scale) of heterogeneity. The goal was to unveil the role of heterogeneity and of its length-scale in the particle-protein interaction. Dynamic light scattering and circular dichroism spectroscopy were used to reveal different interactions at pH above and below the isoelectric points of the proteins, which is related to the charge heterogeneity on the protein surface. At pH 7.4, there was only a monolayer of proteins adsorbed onto the NPs and the secondary structure of proteins remained intact. At pH 4.0, large aggregates of nanoparticle-protein complexes were formed and the secondary structures of the proteins were significantly disrupted. In terms of interaction thermodynamics, results from isothermal titration calorimetry showed that ubiquitin adsorbed differently onto (1) AuNPs with charged and nonpolar terminals organized into nano-scale structure (66-34 OT), (2) AuNPs with randomly distributed terminals (66-34 brOT), and (3) AuNPs with homogeneously charged terminals (MUS). This difference in adsorption behavior was not observed when AuNPs interacted with fibrinogen. The results suggested that the interaction between the proteins and AuNPs was influenced by the surface heterogeneity on the AuNPs, and this influence depends on the scale of surface heterogeneity and the size of the proteins.

Royal Society of Chemistry2013

Etude par microscopie électronique de particules nanostructurées d'oxalate de cobalt précipitées en milieu aqueux

EPFL2004

Protein-nanoparticle interactions: the effects of surface compositional and structural heterogeneity are scale dependent

Randy Patrick Carney, Francesco Stellacci

Royal Society of Chemistry2013